Building Bridges
by CBloom2
Summary: Kind of a follow on from Cheesy Puffs but you don't have to have read that story to understand this one. More hurt Jamie and protective/proud Danny.
1. Chapter 1

**Well here's another Blue Bloods story mainly revolving around Jamie and Danny – I always think its really strange how we always want to hurt the character we like the most!**

**The title comes from something Linda said to Danny in the season 2 finale about what type of influence their brother Joe was in their lives. Hope it at least kind of makes sense by the end of the story.**

**I don't own anyone you recognise, just like to hurt Jamie sometimes!**

**Building Bridges**

"Uncle Jamie!"

Jamie looked up to see his niece, Nicki, bounding down the school steps towards him. She had only had to be in school for the morning and because he was the only member of the family, apart from Henry, not at work that day, it had fallen to him to collect her from school. He didn't mind though, he was pleased to be spending some time with her. Since she had entered her teenage years, Jamie seemed to see less and less of her, so today was a good chance to catch up. He began to walk towards her, meeting her with open arms, which she threw herself into. Jamie took a moment to feel relief that she went in for the hug – he would've looked pretty stupid standing there with his arms open wide for a hug that didn't happen!

As he let go of her, he became aware of a group of girls looking his way then smiling, "You're causing quite a stir Uncle Jamie," Nicki grinned.

He felt himself blush a little as he nudged her shoulder, causing the young girl to giggle.

He opened the car door to allow her access to the passenger seat. As he sat behind the steering wheel, he took a second to watch her put on her seatbelt as she was gazing around the interior, "Wow Uncle Jamie, I've never seen such an awesome car! It's so clean!" She exclaimed, thinking about what her mum's car always looked like inside.

Jamie ducked his head in embarrassment, "Well it was your Uncle Joe's – he always looked after it so I thought I'd better do the same," he explained.

"You're doing a good job – Uncle Joe would agree…" she trailed off as she noticed her Uncle's expression change slightly, so she changed the subject, "So what are we doing this afternoon?"

Jamie's smile returned, "I thought we could go for lunch to that restaurant that you like, then maybe the cinema? What do you think?"

Nicki nodded eagerly, "Can we watch the new superhero movie? My friends have seen it and they say it's amazing!"

"Sure, sounds good. I just need to go to the bank first – should only take five minutes," he told her as he pulled the car away from the curb. Nicki nodded, the smile on her face telling Jamie that she was just as pleased to be spending time with her Uncle as he was.

Ten minutes later, Jamie couldn't believe his luck as he managed to park the car directly outside the bank, "Can I wait here?" Nicki asked.

"No sorry Nicki, I promised your mum I would watch out for you, and I can't do that if you're sat out here on your own."

Nicki decided that she wouldn't ruin the afternoon by arguing so she reluctantly followed her Uncle into the imposing building.

The teenager couldn't believe how huge the bank was – it seemed bigger than her entire school. She noticed, however, that they had managed to place CCTV cameras all around the bank without detracting from its grandness.

She sidled over to Jamie's side, looking over his shoulder as he filled out a withdrawal slip. Stealthily, she retrieved a pen from her bag and managed to add an extra nought to the withdrawal amount. Jamie stopped writing and looked at her in surprise, then burst out laughing, "I should be so lucky," he muttered between laughs as he ripped it up and started filling out another one.

Suddenly the low, dull rumble of the every day activity was punctured by two loud noises. Immediately Jamie recognised it as gunfire. As he whirled round to see what was happening, he grabbed hold of his niece and pulled her behind him, "Don't move," he whispered, as a couple of screams pierced the air.

When Jamie finally turned round, he came almost face to face with two masked me. His police training help him identify that they were men just by looking at their build, "Everyone over here!" One of them shouted, motioning for everyone to stand in front of the counter. Jamie then noticed that there was a marked difference in the height of the men, with one being at least a foot taller than the other.

The smaller of the two threw a bag at one of the members of staff, "You know what to do," he growled at the panic stricken woman.

The first gunman motioned for Jamie and Nicki to join the small group of people standing in front of the counter.

Jamie quickly surveyed his surroundings and the other people that were with him. After himself and Nicki, there was the member of staff currently trying to fill the bags with trembling hands. There were a couple of other staff members, a suited man probably in his early fifties and a young man not much older than Nicki. Looking to his left gave him more cause for concern. There was a elderly couple clinging tightly to each other, the woman was looking decidedly pale and shaky. There was also a heavily pregnant woman who was trying to comfort her young son, who looked to be about four years old. Jamie hoped that she wasn't as far gone in her pregnancy as she looked because she actually looked ready to give birth at any time and a shock such as this…

"Hey honey, you ok?" He whispered to his niece mindful of the fact that her vice like grip on his arm hadn't lessened as they took their places within the group. Nicki tried to offer her Uncle he best brave smile but realised that it had failed when her lip began to tremble, "It's going to be ok," he tried to reassure the young girl.

Before they knew what was happening, they could hear sirens penetrating the deathly quiet.

"What the hell?" The taller one spat, whirling round to face the teller, "Was it you?"

The woman behind the counter shook her head vigoursly at his accusations, "We have a prototype system in place that immediately sends a distress signal to the nearest police station when gunfire is detected," the suited man explained. Jamie decided that he must be the manager.

"Well that's just great," the smaller man grumbled, "You said we'd have no problems…"he carried on as he began to search everyone's pockets. He stopped dead when he pulled out Jamie's wallet, "Well this day just gets better and better! He's a cop!"

"You've got to be kidding me!" The taller one exclaimed as he quickly strode over to Jamie, who looked straight at him without flinching. They stared at each other for a while, neither man backing down until the taller one smiled, "No worries, we've got out ticket out of here! Now then, what have we here," he turned towards Nicki, "Lets see what this little lady has in her pockets…" he leered as he began to check her pockets.

"Leave me alone, I haven't got anything…" she pleaded, feeling her body tense as he slowly slid his hands down her body. He reached for the inside pocket of her blazer, causing her to cry out. Jamie grabbed hold of his and threw him away, "Don't you touch her! Don't you ever go near her again!" he yelled, his fear for his niece taking over any rational thought. He turned back to check on her, getting a small nod of affirmation that she was ok. As Jamie slowly turned away from her, he met with the butt of a gun, sending him crashing to his knees, "Uncle Jamie!" was the last thing he heard as darkness clouded his vision.

**1st chapter done – any good? Should I carry on? **

**I realise that the prototype alarm system is a bit far fetched but that's what dramatic licence is all about ha ha!**

**Danny and some of the other Reagans will be the next chapter so never fear!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you so much for all your reviews and alerts for my lowly, little chapter 1! **

**So here's chapter 2 – Danny enters the fray. Hope it makes sense.**

**The name of the bank is fictitious – please let me know otherwise!**

**Slight mention of events from my Cheesy Puffs story, but you don't have to have read it to get what's happening.**

**Building Bridges – chapter 2**

Danny Reagan dropped a sandwich on his partner's desk and handed her a cup of coffee. Jackie looked at it appreciatively, "Hey, it's the good coffee," she took a quick drink, "Ok Reagan, what did you do this time?"

Danny gave her his best hurt look, one that he had used many times before, "Can't a guy just buy his favourite partner a cup of good coffee for once…"

He noticed that Jackie's attention had been drawn elsewhere, "Hey Danny, you got an account at 2nd National Bank?"

Danny looked at her in confusion, "Huh?" They had just been talking about coffee!

"It's not rocket science Reagan. Do you or don't you have an account at that bank?"

"Yeah, I guess but there's never anything in it!"

"I hear ya. Only the branch around the corner is currently being robbed and the media are there before we are!"

Danny walked round the desks to get a better look as the action unfolded. As the camera pulled back, Danny's heart froze – Jackie, of course, noticed, "Reagan?"

"See that old car parked right outside? It's Jamie's…"

"No way," Jackie gasped in astonishment.

"What are the odds…" he mumbled as he grabbed his phone and punched in a number.

"Hey sis – yeah – look, I don't suppose you're having lunch with Jamie are you?" He listened intently, his eyes staring blankly at the floor. Jackie, who was watching her partner closely, became concerned when he closed his eyes and lowered himself into his chair, "There's a robbery happening at a bank…Jamie's car is parked right outside…ok Erin, calm down just a little…you know Jamie would not let anything happen to her…ok you do that, I'll call dad."

He ended the call and took a calming breath. When he finally opened his eyes, he saw the concern etched on his partner's face, "He's got Nicki with him," he said simply.

"Oh god, I guess we're going down there?"

"Yeah, I gotta phone dad…God Jackie, he's only just got back on his feet after the stabbing…" he left his sentence unfinished as he hit his father's number on the speed dial.

Thirty minutes later Danny and Jackie were in the back of a SWAT truck with an extremely anxious police commissioner and an equally anxious ADA, namely his father and sister. They were going over footage from the cameras in the bank.

They saw them lining the hostages up – searching them one by one. They tensed when they saw the taller one getting in Jamie's face – anger radiated off the Reagan's as the tall one turned his attention to Nicki.

Danny allowed himself a small smile of pride as he watched his brother throw the guy to the other side of the room almost, but pride soon turned to anger and concern when he saw his brother go down thanks to that knock on the head. Relief flooded through him when he saw Jamie sit up almost straight away, helped by the elderly couple and Nicki.

"Detective Reagan – we've made contact," an officer told him as he passed the phone along.

"This is detective Danny Reagan, who am I speaking to?"

He waited as patiently as he could. He could hear muttering over the phone line, "Reagan you say," Came a voice, "Any relation to the 'have a go hero' cop we've got here?"

Danny wasn't about to give anything away, "Can you tell me if everyone's alright?" Danny asked, his patience already starting to wear thin.

"I guess so … pregnant lady is not looking so hot," was all he said before he disconnected the line. Danny slammed the phone down in frustration.

"Stay calm son, we've got the live feed…"

They could see that the pregnant woman was in some discomfort, "It looks like she could be in early labour," Erin surmised.

"You need to let her go – she needs a hospital!" They heard Jamie plead with the robbers. The Reagan's and Jackie let out a small sigh of relief at hearing their youngests voice, but that soon turned to horror when, on the monitor, they watched as the taller one whirled round to Jamie's voice and because his itchy finger was on the trigger, the gun went off, sending shockwaves through the truck.

Jamie had obviously known what was about to happen because he had thrown himself onto Nicki, knocking her to the floor.

"Nicki…" Erin gasped, her had to her mouth, her knees threatening to buckle. Frank solemnly put his arm around his distraught daughter.

Danny, however, almost lost it completely, "Jamie!"

**Just a short one – so will the next one. Was going to merge the two chapters, but then I think it would be to long then.**

**Hope it was ok, I'm sure you'll let me know one way or another.**

**Thanks for reading.**


	3. Chapter 3

**I would just like to take this opportunity to say a massive THANK YOU for all the reviews and alerts. I should have been replying to these reviews since I got the first one, but I have been tardy in replying. Your reviews and kind words really keep me going as I am always nervous to post as what seems good to me may not be everyone's cup of tea! **

**I'm also so glad that there are a lot of hurt Jamie fans out there just like me! I'm already trying out new ideas! Anyway thank you again from the bottom of my heart!**

**Here's chapter 3. It's another short one but I believe that putting the last chapter together with this would have been to long.**

**So here goes…**

**Building Bridges Chapter 3**

Jamie felt the sting of the bullet as is grazed his arm, but that coupled with the earlier head injury made him feel quite woozy. He rolled off Nicki, "Nicki…Nicki…are you hurt?" he demanded.

She shook her head, tears coursing down her cheeks. He pulled her into a quick hug, "It's ok, it'll be ok," he soothed, "Uncle Danny'll be outside by now and if I know him the whole SWAT division will be out there too!" He smiled, trying to reassure her.

She appreciated what he was trying to do, then noticed there was blood on his sleeve, "You're hurt!" she exclaimed.

"Oh it's just a scratch, it's nothing…" he said as he tried to clear his wavering vision. A pained moan brought him back into the room. The pregnant woman was looking decidedly uncomfortable. She looked at Jamie with fear in her eyes.

While the robbers were distracted, Jamie used the opportunity to slowly move towards her, "How far apart?"

Again she looked panicked, "About 6 minutes," was all she managed as another contraction rippled through her body. Jamie saw the fear in her eyes as she glanced at her young son, who was in the process of telling Nicki a fabulous made up story.

As Jamie desperately worked through scenarios in his head, the younger of the two gunmen walked over and rather shakily pointed his gun at Jamie. The police officer could see that the younger guy was wavering – so he seized his chance, "Hey, I need your help here," he ventured, raising his hands as if in surrender, "This lady needs a doctor – preferably a hospital very soon…she's in labour…do you know what that means?" He questioned, watching closely for any change in the mans' demeanour. The younger man's eyes flicked between Jamie and the woman, looking for a trick, "She's going to have the baby right here, right now…we need to get her and the children out of here…"

The smaller man glanced nervously between the two of them again – his eyes lingering on the uncomfortable woman as another contraction caused a sharp intake of breath, "3 minutes," she managed to hiss.

He immediately turned on his heel to re-join the other man, who had just disconnected another call with an air of triumph, "Two mill little brother, all ours, very soon, and with him as our shield…we can't go wrong!"

He quietened down as his little brother quietly explained what had been happening while he was negotiating. The taller one looked across sharply at the woman who now had a fine sheen of sweat on her forehead. The elderly couple had shifted closer to her and her young son. The older woman had hold of the younger woman's hand and was whispering words of encouragement to her. Suddenly her back arched as another wave of pain crashed over her. The time she was unable to hold back a cry of pain, which then in turn caused her son to burst out crying. Nicki looked at her Uncle in panic as she scooped the little boy into her arms to try to comfort him.

Jamie stood up, closing his eyes slightly until the dizziness wore off, and made his way to the men. Again unflinching when the taller man got into his face, "Look man, you've got me, a cop, let the rest of these people go. You've got scared kids – an elderly couple who could possibly have health issues…" he glanced at the elderly man apologetically, who waved away his apology, he knew what Jamie was aiming for, "Plus you've got a woman about the give birth! Have you ever delivered a baby before?" he enquired, watching both gunmen glance at each other nervously, flinching slightly when the woman cried out in pain again.

"The cops out there, they'll see it as a gesture of good will – a chance to show them that you're not heartless…please let them go – you can keep me as long as you want to…" He dropped back to a sitting position as his vision darkened again for a second. The two gunmen began to talk again until another cry of pain was heard, "Her contractions are getting closer together, that means she's due to give birth very soon…" Jamie explained, breathing deeply against the nausea that had suddenly developed.

The taller one grabbed Jamie by the arm, causing him to wince, and dragged him to the phone, "Call the other Reagan…we don't want kids and babies – tell them we'll let them go but we're keeping you!"

**So that's where I'm leaving this chapter. I know it's only a short one again but it does seem the right place to leave it. Don't shoot me! Please let me know what you think x**


	4. Chapter 4

**Just a reminder that I don't own anyone that you recognise – I just dust them off to hurt them now and again! So here's Chapter 4**

"Detective Reagan, it's for you," an officer informed an exhausted Danny as he once again passed him the phone. They had been there for a good few hours watching and praying for their family's safety, "Reagan," he growled into the phone, his patience with these men growing thin.

"Danny?" came his brother's weak voice. Danny immediately put him on speaker, "Jamie, you ok? How's Nicki?"

"We're ok…" he assured tiredly, "They are going to let everyone go…they never really wanted all this trouble…they're just desperate…"

"Get on with it!" Danny heard on the line.

"They're letting them go, but I'm staying…"

"Jamie…no," Danny mumbled as he looked at his father, not trying to hide the fear on his face. Frank just shook his head in resignation. He knew his youngest would never think of himself before others, that's what made him such a good cop.

"It's the only way Danny," Jamie stated a little more firmly, "We need an ambulance standing by – we've got a pregnant woman with contractions every 3 minutes…"

They heard a commotion, and then another voice came on the line, "You get that detective? The cop stays with us until we get our money – assuming he lives that long!" The phone went dead.

The Reagan's and Jackie looked at each other in confusion – what had he meant by that? Danny thought back to how Jamie had sounded in his phone call, was he hurt more than they knew?

Anxiety flooded through Danny as he again turned to the monitor, watching his brother more closely than before, looking for any signs of serious injury. All he could make out at that moment was Jamie getting everyone together – helping the pregnant woman to her feet then passing her to two members of the bank staff. He then saw Jamie and Nicki having a heated conversation followed by a loving embrace.

Then the smaller of the two opened the door allowing the hostages to slowly make their way out into the sunlight.

The watching Reagan's dashed out of the van desperate to at least get one of their own back into their arms. Nicki walked out holding the hand of the little boy, both squinting against the brightness. As the medical personnel took charge of the boy, Erin took charge of Nicki, "Oh my baby. Are you ok? Are you hurt? Let me look at you!"

Erin looked her over quickly as the young girl strained to reach her grandfather, and lastly her uncle. As Danny held her tightly, she assured him that she was fine, even though tears of relief were streaming down her face.

Before she left with her mum to be checked out, she passed on a message for Danny, "Uncle Jamie told me to tell you that there are only two perps – they're not experienced and he said that taking them down should be a piece of cake for a hard-ass like you!" She blushed red as she told him the last part.

Danny burst out laughing, "Punk," he mumbled, promising himself that when he got Jamie back he was going to whoop his ass for that comment. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Jackie stifle a smile – normally he would have some witty come back, but today all he wanted was for this to end and for him to get his brother back.

Suddenly it all started to get too much for Danny. The relief at seeing his niece alive and unharmed almost broke him. He felt his heart begin to pound harder, his hands began to shake. He had to sit down, his head in his hands. He felt a hand on his shoulder and knew straight away that it was his father, "its ok son," was all he said.

Danny looked up at him, "He's hurt dad…I could tell – he's only just back on the job…"

"He got through it before, he'll get through it again," Frank insisted, "Let's just concentrate on getting him out of there."

Danny nodded, ran a shaky hand over his face, gulped down a mouthful of cold coffee and was back to being Detective Danny Reagan, as opposed to big brother Danny Reagan.

"Commissioner, Detective, we have the money and the car's outside," they were informed.

"I hope Jamie has a plan," Frank commented, "Otherwise I'll have a heck of a loan to pay off."

Both Danny and Jackie smiled as they once again made their way to the scene.

Fifteen minutes later, everyone was in position – waiting for the robbers to make their move.

Suddenly the door opened slowly and Jamie was pushed out first – arms raised. Danny clenched his jaw at his brother's appearance. The gash to the forehead was clearly visible on the far to pale face, and to the eye of the concerned family the blood on his right sleeve was very noticeable.

The two gunmen followed behind Jamie, both guns pointed at his back. At that moment, Jamie's message began to make sense to Danny. These two didn't have a clue what they were doing. Probably just a couple of down on their luck kids who thought they could rob a bank.

Danny could see that Jamie was searching for something. Suddenly his little brother's eyes locked with his – a slight nod of the head followed – Danny tensed…ready…

Because neither man had a hold of Jamie, he was quite easily able to stomp on the foot of one while punching the other in the stomach. In the few seconds that they were incapacitated, Jamie was able to drop to the floor and roll out of the way as officers swarmed over the gunmen, quickly disarming them, then leading them away.

Danny reached his brother first, "Jamie!"

Jamie started to raise himself from the ground, momentarily forgetting about his injured arm until he put pressure on it. Strong arms encircled him, supporting him as he got, unsteadily to his feet. He looked up to see the concerned face of his father, "You ok son?"

Jamie nodded – bad idea, his stomach started to roll, "I will be," he said, shaking his head in the vain attempt to clear it.

He was aware of a mumbled conversation taking place over him, but found that he couldn't concentrate on what was being said, "Come on kid," Danny began to lead Jamie away, when suddenly the younger man stopped in his tracks, leaning on his brother, "Do I have a target on my back or something?" he asked his confused sibling, "Or has a memo gone out telling everyone its lets kick Jamie Reagan's ass this month?" he finished with a laugh as his knees began to buckle due to the fact that he was losing his battle to stay conscious. Danny followed him to the floor as he yelled for help, not letting go of his precious load until the last possible moment.

**So there was chapter 4. Sorry if the ending of the heist was a bit quick and the way Jamie got away a bit blah, but I didn't want it dragging on and on.**

**One more chapter to go with plenty of brotherly stuff.**


	5. Chapter 5

**So here it is - the final chapter. This is where the family comfort stuff comes in!**

**Thank you so much to everyone who's took the time to read and review or put it on alerts I really appreciate every single one of you and I hope to be back with more stories soon as our school summer holidays start very soon, 6weeks off work…bliss!**

**So hopefully, if I can think of any good ideas, I will be writing a bit more.**

**Anyway enough of my chit chat, let's finish this thing!**

**Building Bridges Chapter 5**

The following day found Jamie once again stretched out on his fathers sofa, resting, "You need anything son?" His father asked for what seemed like the hundredth time that day.

"No I'm good dad thanks," he replied, forcing a polite smile.

Frank nodded, knowing exactly what was going through his son's mind, "Ok then, I'll go help pop with dinner, the rest of the clan will be here soon."

Jamie started to get to his feet, shooting his dad 'the look' as the older man made a move towards him, "I'm going for some fresh air," he explained as he walked stiffly past his father.

Truth be told, his head was still thumping and his arm was still giving him some pain, even though it was immobilized in a sling, but he didn't want to be laid in bed or on the sofa – he'd had enough of that after the stabbing. His father didn't look convinced, "Dad, I'm ok – really!"

He followed Jamie into the kitchen and pretended to be busy as he slyly watched his son take a seat out in the garden on the warm summers evening, "He'll be fine Francis," his father reassured, "He's already a stronger person."

"Yeah, I know…" He was interrupted by the front door slamming, followed by Erin and Nicki, "Hey girls. How you doing pumpkin?" He asked as he hugged his granddaughter a little more tightly.

"I'm good grandpa… but pumpkin? Really?" She smiled.

"I'm just happy that you're ok. I was scared for you yesterday, powerless to help you – so I think you can let me off with this one pumpkin, don't you?"

Nicki nodded. She knew that everyone had been beyond scared so she didn't have the heart to deny them their extra cuddles or pet names, "You didn't have to be scared grandpa, you knew Uncle Jamie wouldn't let anything happen to me. He was awesome!"

Frank smiled proudly. Twice in the space of 6 months had his youngest son protected the children of the family – Nicki was right, he was awesome.

"You know dad, Nicki's been telling me some of what Jamie did in there…God…" She couldn't go on. Frank took his daughter into his arms as he felt the silent tears of relief and gratitude flow out of her.

When she had composed herself, she and Nicki made their way out to see Jamie, whose face lit up when he saw them. He stood up, relieved that he didn't feel dizzy for once, "Hey you two."

Nicki dashed up and hugged him hard, "How you feeling Uncle Jamie?"

"All the better for seeing you…smiling," he caught Erin's eyes and could see them tearing up.

"In a couple of weeks we are having a day at school where we talk about our heroes – would you come in and talk to the kids? It won't be much, I'll do most of the talking…would you do it Uncle Jamie, please?"

"Well I don't know…" he could've kicked himself when he saw his niece's face looking so disappointed, "As long as I don't have to talk for long."

"Oh thank you. You won't I promise. It's going to be so cool. Thanks again Uncle Jamie, you're the best!" With that she skipped back to the house to help in the kitchen.

After the whirlwind that was her daughter had disappeared, Erin took a seat inviting Jamie to sit also, "Thank you for saving my life Jamie," was all she said, but Jamie understood the meaning quite clearly, "She was so brave Erin.."

Erin nodded as she took her little brothers' hand in hers, the tears once again falling unchecked. Jamie began to feel a little uncomfortable with all the emotion swirling around him, "I mean with this happening so soon after…are you really ok?"

Jamie sighed, "If I'm honest, it's a little overwhelming. I mean what are the chances of something like this happening in such a short space of time?"

"I know what you mean. You been saying your prayers? Perhaps it's divine retribution for missing mass or something…"

Jamie smiled, "Perhaps…"

Anything else that he had planned to say was washed away by the noise that heralded the arrival of Danny and his clan.

"Hey kid, you managed to stay out of trouble for the last 24 hours – or did you rescue the old lady next doors cat out of the tree or something?"

Jamie couldn't help the grin that graced his face as he watched his big brother stride across the garden, closely followed by his family, "You're wasted in the force Danny – you should have been a comedian!"

Linda laughed as she playfully punched her husband on the arm, "Wise guy," she muttered as she caught Jamie in a hug, "You ok?"

He nodded, this time with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

Jack and Sean were the next to give their uncle some love, "You're like a superhero or something!" Jack gushed, causing Jamie to colour up again.

Linda stepped forward, "Come on boys, let's go set the table before your Uncle's head swells to much with all these compliments."

"Hee hee, that would look funny," giggled Sean.

As the two men watched the children return to the house, Danny gave into his urge to sling his arm around his brothers' shoulders – so he could feel him there whole and relatively unharmed, "The woman in labour, she was called Stacey, had a baby boy about 2 hours after you got them out – mum and baby both doing well…"

Jamie looked at Danny gratefully, "Good, that's good – I wouldn't have wanted to deliver my first baby with a gun to my head!" Coldness swept through him causing him to shiver. Danny automatically tightened his hold.

Jamie took a deep breath, "I was scared again Danny! Second time in 6 months that I had to protect my family like that…" Danny could tell by the far away look in Jamie's eyes that he was being transported back to the previous day, "They had no idea what they were doing, which made them even more dangerous – they searched us…searched Nicki, God Danny I can still see her face…" he dropped his head, unable to continue.

Danny swallowed hard; trying to push away thoughts that were bombarding his brain, "Jamie listen to me..." he put his fingers under Jamie's chin and lifted his head up so he could see his face, "What you did yesterday was above and beyond. All the hostages relayed that you kept everyone calm – even though you were hurt you still put them first. You got them out safely Jamie, all of them. You got yourself out! You're here, whole, alive…God I…" Now Danny had to stop as emotions threatened to overwhelm him, "I'll let you into a secret – don't you tell anyone as I might have to kill you…I was scared too Jamie. All I could do was watch what was happening on the monitor, helpless, powerless to help as my little brother was holding the fort. I'm proud of you kiddo – real proud. I'm thinking maybe now is the time to get off your back a bit…after everything you've been through I guess you're savvy enough to get on with things…but I won't make any concrete promises just yet – you are still my little brother – my responsibility…" he finished quietly.

Jamie smiled, "Thanks Danny that really means a lot…you having faith in me."

"I've always had faith in you kid, I just didn't always show you – but that will change, I promise!" He squeezed Jamie's shoulder again, "Come on, dinner must be ready – I'm starved."

"You're always starved – doesn't Linda feed you at home?"

"Feed me? You're joking! I'm lucky to get a slice of dry bread…" he joked as they made their way towards the house. Jamie threw his head back and laughed at the thought of Danny surviving on a piece of dry bread, which in turn made Danny laugh – pleased to see his brother smiling again.

Unknown to the two men, a small audience were observing their behaviour. The two men and two women all had 'goofy' smiles on their faces as they watched the two brothers talking and laughing, "There's another bridge being built," Linda remarked, recalling a conversation she had with Danny not so long ago about how Joe had been the bridge between him and Jamie and that it was now time for them to build their own.

"Well long may it continue," insisted Frank.

"Amen to that!

**So there it is. Hope it wasn't to dull. Please let me know what you think – thanks. Until next time…**


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